We were lucky because on our first visit to Grant’s picnic ground in Victoria there was no bird feeding and this attracted more diverse Australian birds, especially Lorikeets. Lyre birds also live here but are harder to spot. I was told they imitate the sounds of other birds.

This was an opportunity for my bub to experience the bird life and not be scared by the sounds they make. They can sound quite prehistoric; have you ever noticed that? It was also a chance for me to try out my new Nikon P1000 camera and its amazing zoom capacity. Bub tried it too.

I believe children learn the most from their parents. We are like one person as bub tries to imitate everything I do and say. They then develop the ability to interact with others. That’s nice to watch too. 🙂

The most fun was when bub explored the open space on her own and I watched her. It’s so important to know when to intervene and allow bub independence and opportunities to problem solve safely. Nature provides this because it isn’t designed for a certain age group like man made playgrounds. It’s for everyone. It builds self-confidence as bub tries again and again and is finally successful.

Properly fitted shoes are so important in these situations where bub is running, climbing and doing all kinds of physical activities for a long period of time. We spent 3 hours at the park! Get the proper size shoe fitted at a sports store or child’s shoe store specialising in this, is what I recommend. Or if the weather is warm and it’s safe to do so go bare foot.

Oh the possibilities nature has to offer. We don’t need to make anything up. It’s right there for us to explore. The textures and colours of vegetation, the size of the trees and their life cycle. Some have fallen over, others are just babies. The language opportunities as we talked about everything.

I talk in both Greek and English, and this preserves my mother tongue as well as giving my bub the chance to extend her languages. It’s so liberating to be outdoors and to feel what it’s like to be in nature. To breathe in oxygen and to sense the cold air around us.

Go regularly to sense different seasons and weather changes, and how this affects nature. Watch the sun come out through the trees and the rain drops fall and glow on the leaves.

Australia has so many different environments to explore. What’s it like where you live? It’s so different to watching nature on film or reading about it. I encourage you to do what we did. Just go unplanned and explore. Just prepare food and water. I prepare a lot more than what I think I’d need. I also leave a portion of it in the car for the long drive home afterwards.